Patent GB-545661-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for feeding articles from a supply
IPC: B65G47/14
Filed: 1940-12-04
Abstract: 545,661. Shoots. BEST, C., CHOWN, S. R., and MOLINS MACHINE CO., Ltd. Dec. 4, 1940, Nos. 17228/40, 2035/41, 2161/41 and 2776/41. [Class 78 (i)] [Also in Group XXII] In apparatus for feeding articles from a supply to a machine the articles fall in succession lengthwise down a shoot and are each successively caused to strike against a stop, forming the bottom or end wall of the shoot, after which each article is caused to move between guides in a direction transverse to its axis before the arrival of the next succeeding article, the stop comprising a shockabsorber, such as a weightedarm or a spring arm. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 3 applied to a device for feeding bullets from a hopper 1 to a weighing machine, the hopper is of known type and has a rotating circular base 2 provided with peripheral slots 3 which feed the bullets, base first, to a vertical flexible shoot 4. The bullets, as they fall down the shoot 4, are controlled by movable rods 45, 51 mounted on a rocking lever 49 and periodically projecting into the shoot at different levels in known manner. The lever 49 is rocked by a cam 54 and as the upper rod 45 enters the shoot and checks a bullet the lower rod releases the bullet in advance of the checked bullet, and this released bullet enters a curved part 40 of the shoot to assume a horizontal position. At the outlet end of the part 40 the bullet encounters a shock-absorbing stop formed by a weighted lever 56 pivoted at 57 and provided with stops 59 and 60, the latter being adjustable in a slot 61. The shock absorber reduces the liability of the bullets to bounce back which occurs with a rigid stop. The bullets are now moved transversely to the shoot by means of a rocking arm 62 pivoted at 64 and having a flat central stop 65 and two side notches 66. When one of the notches is below the shoot a bullet 13 drops in, and as the arm rocks in the other direction this bullet is delivered to a conveying device 42 which delivers it to a scale pan 71 as described in Specification 528,388, [Group XVIII], at the same time the other notch 66 comes below the shoot and receives the next bullet which is then delivered to a second device 42. The main shaft 76 of the weighing machine drives the spindles 55 of the devices 42 through skew gears 78, the rocking arm 62 through a cam 67 and shaft 64, the lever 49 of the rods 45, 51 through a cam 54 and arm 53, and the hopper mechanism through a belt 74 and shaft 11. In the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 applied to a rectifying machine for bullets, the bullets pass base first down the shoot 4 past the check rods 45, 51 to the lower curved part 40 of the shoot, as in the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and come to rest in a horizontal position after striking the shock-absorbing lever 56. The bullet B now rests, as shown in Fig. 5. on a curved pusher 83 pivoted at 90 and oscillated by a link 91 connected to a lever 92 on a shaft 48. As the pusher moves to the left the bullet falls on to an arcuate support 82 and on the return stroke of the pusher is delivered to a slope 89 of a grooved support 84. In order to position the bullet accurately in the groove a device 99 rocking about a pivot 101 is now lowered and presses lightly on the bullet. A punch 86 is next projected and forces the bullet through a die (not shown) which rectifies the bullet to the correct size. The shock absorbing stop or lever 56 is preferably provided with a conical or wedge-shaped projection 107 which is engaged by the soft core of the bullet, the bounce being correspondingly reduced. If an empty bullet envelope is included amongst the bullets and passes down the shoot 4 its open end passes over the projection 107 and, as the pusher 83 is moved from beneath the envelope, only the nose end of the envelope can fall to the level of the surface 82. Thus, when the pusher moves forward again the envelope obstructs its movement. A spring device in the drive to the pusher is disconnected when the pusher is obstructed so that no damage is done, the bullet envelope is removed by hand and the spring device reset. Similarly, if a bullet is fed down the shoot 4 point first and comes to rest against the stop lever 56 its base rests on the notched end of a plate 110, Figs. 6 and 7, and is prevented from falling to the level of the lower surface 82, so that the pusher is obstructed and its drive disconnected. The drive comprises a pin 96 on the lever 92, this pin working in a slot 97 in the link 91 actuating the pusher. The pin 96 is normally kept at the upper end of the slot either by a tension spring or a spring clip 98, so that the driving lever can continue to oscillate even when the pusher is obstructed. The curved passage 40 at the lower end of the shoot 4 preferably comprises a pair of plates 105, Figs. 5 and 9, spaced apart by washers from each other and from the side walls 43. The bullets travel on the curved edges of these plates so that the surface contact of these curved guides and the bullets is reduced to a minimum and all bullets travel on the guides at approximately the same speed. Specification 545,673, also is referred to.